Learning Diary: Blog 3 19/03/10

At the Campus session this week, we discussed a number of issues regarding data collection methods specifically observations, interview and questionnaires. We were asked to observe a pre-recorded segment of a dance class to look for phenomena in the class, following Paula’s comments it was obvious that as a teacher I automatically analyse any observation that I make and in the process of this project I must ensure that I only record my observations and not my analysis of those observations. If I record my immediate analysis of those observations rather than the observations themselves I am not accurately recording my primary data which could jeopardise the validity of my conclusions.

The campus sessions also resonated the importance of a pilot study, which is effectively a trial run of your observation/interview/questionnaire. The purpose of a pilot study is to ensure that your data collection technique achieves what you want it to achieve and that it does this in a effective way. After you conduct a pilot study it is imperative that you receive feedback from your pilot study test subjects in order to ascertain if any improvements could be made. By having a pilot study I can ensure that my data collection methods are effective, understandable and fit for purpose before I begin my final research project thereby minimising the chance of having to completely change my research tools halfway through the final project or finding out at the end that the data collected does not answer my research questions.

The campus session extended my knowledge of data collection method and educated me in the more precise and well research my project proposal is the more successful that my final research project will be.

Project idea

This week the concepts I had come up with have taken a complete U-turn, I have to apologize to Peter who went through the long list of project ideas that I had and have now just completely disregarded. Following what I’m calling my crisis moment I had a bit of an epiphany looking at why I entered into this course in the first place, my previous ideas were all about looking into improve my teaching practice and teaching methods which although would aid me and my students, in Peter’s words ‘Who cares’ (apart from me that is). So now I’ve gone a bit bigger that just my classroom.

The idea:

The benefits of integrating creative dance into technical syllabus work in a dance education/ preparation for a professional career in dance?

There has been a lot of research into the benefits of a creative dance education in the public sector (secondary and primary education) but what I would like to know are what would be the benefits of integrating creative dance into the private sector? What would the impact of adding a creative dance exercise into Modern/ Jazz/ Ballet syllabus work? I know from experience that many students struggle with the idea of freestyle when introduced to the concept dance college and this can often be the make of brake point of getting that all important job. Would having to create your own choreography from an earlier age/ improvisation have helped with this?

The areas I would look at:
What is a dance education?
What is creative dance?
What skills are required for a successful career in dance?
How is creative dance taught in the public sector?

What does literature say about the benefits of creative dance?

My primary research:
· An experiment of adding a creative dance section to my syllabus classes- Would it improve, technique, confidence, enhance enjoyment, improve performance etc?
· Conduct a survey of what the child thought of these additions to the classes.
· Survey professional dancers on what they think are the integral skills that they need?
· Observe other teachers conducting my experiment and the effect it has on their students.

I hope that this study would not only interest myself but my employer, other teachers and ultimately the IST D whose syllabus I teach.

What do you think?

Learning Blog 3 05/05/10

When trying to whittle down my ideas for my research project I was trying to answer the question of feasibility on one of ideas ‘the effect that choice of music has on the technique/ performance of dance’ an idea that had come about from a ballet lesson where I found that my students were not exhibiting their previous technique/ performance of their port de bras and footwork. When I asked why they said it was because of the music therefore I thought that it may be a worthwhile investigation looking into the effect that music has on dancers. From my many spider diagrams and reading of research methods I thought the best way to collect my primary data would be to conduct an experiment where I would chose a selection of set exercises in my ballet class and get the students to perform these two contrasting pieces of music and then observe the effect of this. However when looking into the feasibility of conducting this experiment I came across a problem; the most effective way to conduct this experiment would be with a pianist who could easily perform contrasting pieces of music to the specifications that would suit my experiment, but I do not have a pianist (as my classes are all done with the aid of my iPod) and the likelihood of finding appropriate pre-recorded music in the correct time signatures and style of music was un-likely due to the time constraints of balancing this project and my other life commitments. Therefore I have concluded that although this project would have an insightful benefit that would impact my work in a positive way, collecting primary data would not be feasible.

This revelation made me evaluate the priorities of what I need to consider before choosing my project idea in order to complete my project proposal. Primary data collection is an important aspect of our final project and therefore I must ensure that the research that I wish to conduct is feasible which means answering the questions:

1) Do I have persons to conduct the research on (my sample group)?
2) Will my sample group be representative (think validity of research)?
3) Do I have the equipment (if any) to conduct the research.
4) Is the research possible in the time period for the project when considering balance with my other commitments?
5) Are there any problems that I could encounter when conducting this research
6) Are there any ways in which I could overcome these problems and are they feasible.

All these need to be considered in order for me to choose a topic for a realistic project proposal; therefore I am now looking at answering these questions on my other project ideas.

Activity 2

A new influence that perhaps could be classed as an advantage or a disadvantage depending on your point of view is the insider knowledge of the subjects that you are conducting your primary data research on or thinking of conducting your primary data research on. I believe that this is a distinct advantage as it enables you to make more informed choices/ informed conclusions when either planning or analysing your research, for example when trying to put together a group of subjects/ participants that are truly representative of the type of persons/ group of persons that your research is about (your ‘sample’), your insider knowledge will help choose the subjects/ participants in order to make sure that they are truly representative group in order to help ensure the validity or your results.

Activity 1

Social Constructivism: The construction of the social setting in which learning occurs and the effect of learning the construction of the social setting.

Reflexivity: Work with which the researcher tries to be as objective as possible but with which the work takes into account bias and subjective views of the researcher for example, any research that I conduct will be from the perspective of a teacher, a third party academic may draw different conclusions/ have a different opinion on my findings.

Athens!

Can anybody log into Athens? (the portal to let Middlesex uni students look at online books/ journals) I've done what the book tells me to do and what Paula said on the last campus day but its still not letting me in. Can anybody help?

Learning Diary Blog One 18/02/10

Since the beginning of starting the BAPP course I had an idea about what I had wanted my final project to be about ‘the use of imagery in teaching dance’. This concept was based on a subject that I found interesting and what I knew there was a substantial amount of existing literature about, as I knew from my teacher training there has been substantial research into the use of this teaching method. From peer experience I pre-conceived that the literature review was the most integral part of a research project. During the first Campus session we were asked the question ‘What is research?’ My immediate answer was ‘to find existing information about of topic ‘ as this was the only type of research that I had previously experienced, however from the discussion I now realise that this was a very blinkered way to view research. Research is in fact investigating both the known and the unknown in order to advance ones knowledge and understanding , by applying this new thinking I now know that I must consider both what existing knowledge there is on the subject and what new knowledge I can gain from my own active research and experimentation. Aiding to this, I was particularly struck by the advice that we should endeavour to choose a topic where something entirely new can be discovered, not just re-affirming what a number of others have thoroughly investigated.

Now I have taken a completely new approach (since our campus session) in beginning the long process of choosing a topic for the proposal of my research topic. I started with my purpose for being on this course; teaching, then expanding on this by thinking of areas of teaching that I find interesting/ what areas I can expand my knowledge in, in order to improve understanding/ knowledge of teaching?. Having begun to investigate these ideas through a number of mind maps exploring what I already know about the topic and exploring the research potential (I found this process very useful as it enabled me to express all my thoughts on paper and visually link ideas and concepts together). Now I must take my learning further and use my existing and newly acquired research skills to find out what literature there is on the subjects and what ways I could investigate the subject (when I fully comprehend the approaches to research as described in our set text) as this will aid in determining what project I will undertake and thus what my proposal will be.